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In a recent interview with "People" magazine, the Democratic congressman from Maryland said writing his new memoir saved his own life.
The 59-year-old Democrat details a "life-altering" first few weeks in January 2021, where he had to face down a mob of angry Trump supporters who stormed the US Capitol -- all while dealing with the loss of his 25-year-old son Tommy.
"It probably would have been the end of my life had I not been able to talk about it," Raskin tells the magazine.
Tommy Raskin was a second-year student at Harvard Law School, who took his own life on Dec. 31, 2020.
Tommy received a Bachelor's degree in 2017 from Amherst College, where he majored in history and helmed the school's political union.
"Tommy Raskin had a perfect heart, a perfect soul, a riotously outrageous and relentless sense of humor, and a dazzling radiant mind," his parents said in a statement following his death.
"He began to be tortured later in his 20s by a blindingly painful and merciless ‘disease called depression,'... a kind of relentless torture in the brain for him, and despite very fine doctors and a loving family and friendship network of hundreds who adored him beyond words and whom he adored too, the pain became overwhelming and unyielding and unbearable at last for our dear boy, this young man of surpassing promise to our broken world."
In addition to dealing with the loss of his son, Rep. Raskin also helped lead efforts to impeach former President Trump for his role in inciting the insurrection at the Capitol.
His son's final words were: "Please forgive me. My illness won today. Please look after each other, the animals, and the global poor for me. All my love, Tommy."
The congressman's new book is due out on Jan. 4.
If you or someone you know is struggling with depression or thoughts of suicide call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.
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